Mr Trump’s declaration puts great pressure on Britain, France and Germany, the European signatories to the nuclear pact with Iran.

The president wants them to help the US devise a new agreement designed to prevent Iran from escalating nuclear activity again next decade, as permitted under the 2015 arrangement reached by President Barack Obama.

Iran has said it is not interested in any renegotiation.

The sanctions Mr Trump had to waive on Friday dealt with Iran’s central bank.

These penalties largely cut Iran out of the international financial system, until they were suspended by Mr Obama under the nuclear deal.

Mr Trump is also waiving other US penalties covered by the agreement, including on Iran’s oil and gas sectors, which were up for renewal next week.

During Barack Obama’s presidency, penalties largely cut Tehran out of the international financial system (Anthony Devlin/PA)

The Treasury Department’s action hits 14 Iranian officials and companies and businessmen from Iran, China and Malaysia, freezing any assets they have in the US and banning Americans from doing business with them.

Those hit by the sanctions include: Iranian judiciary chief Sadegh Amoli Larijani; the Rajaee Shahr Prison and its director, Gholamreza Ziaei; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Electronic Warfare and Cyber Defence Organisation; Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace and National Cyberspace Centre; Malaysia-based Green Wave Telecommunication and its Iranian director Morteza Razavi; and the Iran Helicopter Support and Renewal Company and Iran Aircraft Industries.

In his lengthy statement, Mr Trump said the US would work with European partners to remove the nuclear deal’s so-called “sunset clauses”, which allow Iran to gradually resume advanced atomic activity.

He said he wanted the US legislation governing Washington’s participation in the deal to specifically link Iran’s ballistic missile programmes to sanctions relief.

“Today, I am waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but only in order to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the terrible flaws of the Iran nuclear deal,” Mr Trump said.

“If at any time I judge that such an agreement is not within reach, I will withdraw from the deal immediately,” he added. “No-one should doubt my word.”

The decision had been expected since earlier this week.

Officials, congressional aides and outside administration advisers had said the president would probably extend the sanctions waivers, citing progress in the US legislation.

One aspect Mr Trump has particularly bristled at is having to give Iran a “thumbs up” every few months by acknowledging that it is meeting its nuclear requirements.

Ipsoregulated

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